New Ferrari F80 revealed: V6-powered LaFerrari successor is the most powerful model ever
October 17, 2024 by Jamie Edkins
Car changing is a big deal
This is the new Ferrari F80, and it’s the long-awaited LaFerrari successor which will go head to head with the McLaren W1, and it’s powered by a hybridised V6 engine.
- New Ferrari F80 revealed
- Long-awaited LaFerrari successor ditches V12 engine
- Uses a hybrid V6 instead
- Produces a combined 1,200hp and does 0-60 in 2.15 seconds
- Le Mans-inspired interior layout
- Just 799 to be built costing £3 million each
Hot on the heels of the new McLaren W1, the new Ferrari F80 has now also broken cover. It’s the second car in the next so-called “holy trinity”, which comprises the flagship hypercars from McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche.
The F80’s engine has half the amount of cylinders as the iconic LaFerrari, however thanks to a clever hybrid system it’s officially the most powerful road car Ferrari has ever made.
New Ferrari F80 design
Before we talk about speed and power, we need to talk about styling. After all, half the point of owning a Ferrari is showing off, so the new F80 flagship needs to have the wow factor.
It doesn’t have quite the same shock value as the LaFerrari did when it launched in the early 2010s, probably thanks to the billionaires who don’t want this car outshining their bespoke, one-off hypercars like the SP8 Roadster.
The black band across the front of the car is very similar to that of the 12 Cilindri GT car, and the squared-off headlights are similar to that car’s as well. The nose isn’t as pointy or dramatic as the LaFerrari or the Enzo which went before.
It’s a similar story down the side as well, where the silhouette is pretty tame for a hypercar. The roof is a full five centimetres lower than the LaFerrari’s, and the staggered alloy wheels look cool as well. They measure 19-inches at the front and 20-inches at the rear.
You do get a massive rear wing to add a sense of drama, although it’s not capable of quite the same acrobatics as the McLaren W1’s which extends backwards as well as up. There’s a hint of the SP3 Daytona at the rear as well.
New Ferrari F80 engine and performance
Diehard Ferrari fans may be sharpening their pitchforks as they read this, because the new F80 is the first flagship from the brand built to celebrate the company’s anniversary which doesn’t have a thumping great V12 in it.
In fact, it’s packing half the amount of cylinders. The new F80 is powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine – a variation of the one used in the 296 GTB. Now before you start brandishing said pitchforks outside Maranello, you may want to find out how much power it makes.
A version of this V6 engine has been used before in 499P, a hybrid hypercar which has won the Le Mans 24-hour race twice. That car’s engine is limited to 680hp thanks to some boring rules and regulations in racing, however here it is totally unlimited and puts out 900hp and 850Nm of torque.
That’s 100hp more than you got in the LaFerrari, and we haven’t even got to the hybrid system yet. The F80 has a total of five electric motors. Two of them help to spool up the turbos to get the engine up to 900hp, then there’s one driving the rear wheels and two more which power the front wheels.
The upshot of this is a total system output of 1,200hp, making it the most powerful Ferrari road car ever made. It’s still 75hp down on the McLaren W1, however it’s over half a second quicker from 0-60mph than that car.
It completes the sprint in just 2.15 seconds. This is mostly thanks to the fact that this car is all-wheel drive, whereas the McLaren sends all 1,275hp to the rear wheels only.
New Ferrari F80 chassis and suspension
With all these electric motors and batteries on board, you may be thinking that this Ferrari will weigh the same as a house. Well actually, it tips the scales at just 1,525kg before fluids, which is 100kg lighter than an SF90.
So how has Ferrari done this? Well for starters, it’s built on an all-new carbon fibre chassis which is lighter, stiffer and narrower than before. It’s also used 3D printing for the first time to make the front suspension as light as possible.
However, the McLaren W1 tips the scales at just 1,399kg dry, meaning the F80 is no flyweight. The result? The W1 has 911hp per tonne, whereas the F80 has to make do with ‘just’ 787hp per tonne.
You get active shock absorbers which are similar to the ones you’ll find on the Purosangue SUV, meaning you can adjust the ride height on each corner using electric motors housed within the dampers, allowing the car to ‘lean’ into bends and pre-load the suspension to deal with bumps.
New Ferrari F80 interior
The cabin has an unusual quirk thanks to that new, narrower carbon chassis. Whereas the seats in a W1 are fixed in place, the Ferrari has an adjustable driver’s seat and a fixed passenger seat which is pushed over to one side and mounted further backwards.
This allows the driver to be pushed further towards the centre of the car, giving them a better view out. It’s a similar layout to the one you get in the 499P race car.
The rest of the cabin is a lot more luxurious than an endurance racing car, although there are plenty of design touches taken straight from Le Mans – such as the square steering wheel. It also features physical knobs and dials rather than haptic touch ones, which are easier to use on the track while you’re wearing your Ferrari-branded driving gloves.
New Ferrari F80: how much will it cost?
A lot is the simple answer. Ferrari will make just 799 of these cars, and they cost the equivalent of £3 million each. All have been sold already as well.
This makes it £1 million more than a McLaren W1, and that car is even more exclusive with 399 of them being made – all of those are sold out as well. If you missed the boat on these flagships, you’ll have to wait for Porsche to unveil its new car based on the Mission x concept, or there could be a convertible Aperta version of the F80 along in a few years time.
New Ferrari F80 vs McLaren W1
It’s impossible not to compare the new F80 to the McLaren W1. The two cars were revealed less than a fortnight apart and both promise to redefine the hybrid hypercar for this generation.
Unsurprisingly the two cars have very similar headline stats, making us intensely curious as to which might win out in a track battle or on the drag strip.
The F80 has slightly less power than the W1, with 1,200hp from its 3.0-litre V6 engine and triple e-motor hybrid setup. The McLaren has a 4.0-litre V8 engine and one electric motor, producing a total of 1,275hp.
It’s the Ferrari that wins out in the benchmark 0-62mph sprint though, with a time of 2.2 seconds versus the McLaren’s quoted 2.7 seconds. You can thank the Ferrari’s four-wheel drive setup for that extra half second – though both cars have an identical 0-124mph sprint time and the same top speed of 217mph.
The F80 is also a little heavier than the McLaren – it comes in at 1,525kg dry weight (excluding a driver and all fluids) while the W1 weighs 1,399kg.
As for price, you’ll have to shell out around £2m to get a McLaren W1 on your driveway (or in your climate-controlled garage). The F80’s more expensive, coming in at £3.1m – but it’s also slightly less exclusive, with Ferrari intending to build 799 F80s. The W1 is limited to just 399 cars.
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